Supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi burn an American flag during a rally on a main street in Cairo, July 19, 2013 (Reuters / Asmaa Waguih) / Reuters

Egypt's army fired tear gas and clashed with supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo as thousands of demonstrators marched towards the presidential palace. Protests organized by the Muslim Brotherhood have been taking place throughout Egypt.

Military forces fired tear gas in Cairo Friday evening, as a
group of pro-Morsi protesters aimed to break through the army
line near the presidential palace in Heliopolis. According to
state news agency MENA, the soldiers attempted to hold back the
crowds from a nearby street, where rival anti-Morsi demonstrators
are rallying.

Egypt’s Interior Minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said on Friday that
security forces “will not allow Morsi loyalists to reach
Tahrir Square, as other [anti-Morsi] political forces have
already announced gathering in the square,” Ahram Online
reported.

The minister warned that the army would “counter any attempts
to cause violence” and urged the demonstrators to “stick
to peaceful protests.” He vowed that the army is
“committed to secure demonstrations,” whether in Tahrir or
Al-Nahda Square or Rabaa Al-Adawiya, as long as the protesters
“do not resort to vandalism or violence.”

Earlier, scuffles were reported near Al-Azhar University in Cairo
after unknown men threw rocks at pro-Morsi demonstrators marching
from Al-Azhar mosque, according to Al Jazeera.

Tens of thousands of Morsi supporters have been stopped en route
from Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque to Abbassiya, where Egypt’s Ministry
of Defence is located, Ahram Online reports.

The Egyptian media reported that the demonstrators were marching
to the Republican Guard House in Cairo.

Some of the pro-Morsi protesters have stormed Abbasiya Hospital
for Mental illnesses, climbing through fences and setting up camp
in the hospital’s garden.

Traffic was grounded on nearby Salah Salem Road, as some 5,000
demonstrators gathered around the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian army has reportedly blocked streets
leading to the Republican Guard House. The military blockaded the
roads in order to prevent Morsi supporters from reaching the
building, according to Al Arabiya.

There were also scuffles with security forces near Al-Azhar
mosque, after Morsi’s supporters began shouting chants against
Abdul Fatah al-Sisi, Commander-in-chief of the Egyptian armed
forces.

“Tonight, tonight, tonight, Sisi is going down tonight,”
some of the protesters shouted.

Police fired shots in the air to disperse Muslim Brotherhood
supporters after they attacked opponents with rocks and fists. No
casualties were reported.

Morsi’s supporters also began a round-the-clock vigil outside a
mosque in the Cairo suburb of Sadr City, with thousands flocking
there after noon prayers on Friday.

At least 400 protesters marched through the Sinai Peninsula’s
main city of el-Arish on Friday. Pro-Morsi supporters also took
to the streets of Alexandria and other Nile delta cities.

The Muslim Brotherhood – from which Morsi hails – has called for
demonstrations across Egypt, accusing Sisi of deliberately
staging a coup to remove Egypt’s first freely elected president
from power.

Morsi’s supporters said they came from across the country to join
Friday’s rallies, underlining the deep level of support for the
Muslim Brotherhood in provincial areas of Egypt.

“We are coming out today to restore legitimacy. We consider
what happened secular thuggery. It would never happen in any
democratic country,” protester Tarek Yessin, from the
southern city of Sohag, told Reuters.

Anti-Morsi protests are also planned for Friday, with Tamarod
planning a demonstration close to the Brotherhood’s Nasr City
vigil. Tamarod is the youth movement responsible for organizing
huge anti-Morsi protests which started on June 30.

They have called their protest “the people against terrorism” and
have blamed Morsi’s supporters for the deaths of at least 99
people who have died in violence since Morsi’s removal. More than
half of them were killed when troops fired on Islamist protesters
outside Cairo barracks on July 8.

On Friday, ten armored personnel carriers were parked on the Nile
Bridge - a route Islamist protestors must cross in order to reach
the anti-Morsi camp on Tahrir Square.

Earlier in the day, two formations of fighter jets and nine
military helicopters circled over Cairo.

The army has fiercely defended its actions to remove Morsi and
the Brotherhood from power, saying its decision reflected the
popular will of Egyptians, and that Morsi had become incompetent
and partisan.

The military has installed an interim cabinet, led by acting
president Adly Mansour, which does not include any Brotherhood
members or people from other Islamist parties.

Acting president speaks of ‘protecting lives and human rights’

President Mansour gave his first address to Egypt on Friday,
saying the country is going through a “decisive period.”
He also accused some elements of society of trying to drag the
country toward chaos.

“They want this period to be an introduction to violence and
blood, and we want it to establish for the concept of protecting
lives and human rights,” Mansour said in the eight minute
pre-recorded broadcast.

He didn’t name those people he said were “pushing the nation
towards an abyss,” although the statement was presumed to be
directed at Morsi supporters.

Mansour did, however, appear to offer an olive branch to the
Muslim Brotherhood, saying that justice and reconciliation will
be for all “without exclusion or exception.”

Morsi and many members of his former government have been in
detention since the army removed him from office on July 3. There
have been no clear indications regarding how many people are
being held, or where they are located. Hundreds of Brotherhood
followers have been rounded up, and arrest warrants issued for
most of its leaders.

Meanwhile, the UN is pushing for the interim government to
explain why the army detained the ousted president and his aides,
and whether it plans to put them on trial. The UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, recently asked
Egypt’s ambassador to clarify the legal basis for their
detention. Rupert Colville, a spokesman for Pillay, said that the
Egyptians have so far given no reply.

Pillay also said that the UN hopes to send a team to Egypt to
further investigate a July 8 shooting which left more than 50
people dead.